The ECB cut interest rates for the eighth time in the past year and signalled at least a pause in policy easing next month since inflation was now safely back at its 2% target after three years of overshooting.

Europe has succeeded in bringing inflation under control after a surge driven by the end of the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the head of France’s central bank said Friday.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is widely anticipated to cut interest rates once again on Thursday, marking its eighth consecutive cut in borrowing costs since June last year as it continues to ease monetary policy in response to falling inflation.